Can’t stop snoring? Try these doctor-approved exercises for snore-free sleep

Are you a snorer? Or does your partner keep you up at night with loud rumbling noises? Then this 4-step anti-snoring routine is approved by doctors and could lead to a better night’s sleep that’s completely snore-free.

Regardless of whether you’ve invested in the best mattress or the best pillow, “snoring is caused by the rattling and vibration of tissues near the airway in the back of the throat”, as quoted from Sleep Foundation. Snoring can also be caused by many different factors like alcohol consumption, sickness, a small jaw or a large tongue.

While your snoring might not be a huge concern right now or it’s something that you and your partner laugh about, it can have a bigger effect than you might think. Snoring can impact the quality and quantity of your and your partner’s sleep, leaving you feeling tired, unable to focus, irritable and at risk of serious illnesses. Loud and continuous snoring can even lead to you and your partner getting a sleep divorce!

So, if you’re trying to stop snoring and have found that most things haven’t worked for you, this 4-step routine recommended by NHS surgeon and popular TikTok-er, Dr Karan Raj could be the answer to all your snoring problems. In a recent TikTok video, Dr Raj explained that “these exercises act as resistance training for your tongue and throat muscles to tone them up so they don’t flap around or collapse when you sleep.”

After trying these anti-snoring exercises before bed, Dr Raj said they can lead to a better night’s sleep, you should “wake up feeling fresher” and it might “stop your partner from giving you a sleep divorce.” If your snoring is getting out of control and disturbing you, these 4 simple exercises are worth trying so let’s look into them…

The first step to this anti-snoring exercise routine is to stick out your tongue and hold it for 5 seconds. If you want a bit more resistance, you can push your tongue against a spoon. Repeat this 3 or 4 times.” As this routine is all about strengthening your tongue and throat muscles, practicing this step before bed should make your tongue less likely to flap around.

The second step is to “move your tongue left and right and push it against your fingers.” As shown in the video, Dr Raj moves his tongue against the walls of his mouth and places his fingers against his cheek where the tongue meets it on the inside. Pushing against your tongue in this way should result in “a gentle strain in the side opposite the cheek you’re pushing against. Repeat this 3 or 4 times on each side.”

The third step is to “push your tongue against your front teeth and try to swallow. For even more stretch in your throat muscles, look up while you’re doing it. Repeat this 3 or 4 times.” Finally, the fourth step, you should “drop your tongue downwards and hold it for 5 seconds. The uvula (or the dangly thing in the back of your throat) should go up. This strengthens the muscles in the back of your throat. Repeat this 3 or 4 times.”

And that’s it! Doing this quick 4-step routine right before bed should result in your tongue and throat muscles staying intact while you sleep rather than collapsing and making you snore. For more sleep advice, check out these 5 techniques to try tonight to stop snoring.